#color commentary

[inacommitedrelationshipwithfood]

for the love of rubber boots and cabbage rolls

[kingmalachaiparker]

Katherine Pierce was a true anti-heroine.

What a ride the series finale took us on. 

From the impending threat of Katherine Pierce rising up from hell only to use hellfire to burn Mystic Falls to ashes, to the return of Bonnie’s incredibly powerful magic, to the alternative sacrifices of the Salvatore brothers (and that ONE sacrifice in particular that had me crying endlessly until the hour was over), to Elena reuniting beautifully and simply with her friends (and Damon - begrudgingly accepting this as the series finale but it will never be canon to me #alternativeships) - the series finale was satisfying in many ways and kept my blood pressure up the entire hour. But one thing that has been nagging at me since the 100th episode, jokingly known as the Roast of Katherine Pierce, came back to remind me of the worst TV trope: the sweet innocent pure virgin vs the evil seductive whore. And no one wants an ending where evil wins.

This show has always enjoyed contrasting good and bad, but also demonstrating that the scales are easily tipped in either direction: Damon has had moments of selflessness and Stefan has the Ripper. Even Bonnie and Caroline, who have been moral centers in many ways, have done hurtful and vindictive things. No one is immune from pettiness, no one is immune from being a little bad.

In that same vein, the contrast drawn between Katherine and Elena was a huge driving force for the first three seasons of the show. Elena was pure, human, placed on a pedestal by Damon and fiercely protected by Stefan. Katherine was dark, seductive, a woman who lied and schemed to save her own skin, and responsible for foisting vampirism on the Salvatore brothers and creating the anti-vampire fervor of the Founders’ Council. But in seasons 4 and 5, the scales tipped: Elena became a vampire, uncontrolled and emotionally volatile, and in giving into the sire bond, she chose the “bad” brother. Katherine was injected with the cure, and became a human, vulnerable and terrified.

I enjoyed the switch because for once, we, the audience, could finally see shreds of humanity in Katherine (and remember, that no matter what happened to her, and considering the garbage circumstances she faced, she never chose to turn off her humanity) and we could see the darkness in Elena that most likely drew her toward Damon in the first place. So why, WHY, why did the writers choose to completely underwrite that humanity in this series finale?

Part of why I enjoyed the 100th episode so much was that we actually had a chance to understand Katherine’s history, and how she got to where she was. She didn’t ask to be a doppelganger, she didn’t ask to become a blood meal for Klaus so he could break the hybrid curse, and she chose vampirism as a way to stay (somewhat) alive without giving him what he wanted. And when he came back and slaughtered her entire family, which she admittedly brought on herself, we have to realize that Katherine was like 17 in the 1400s. She had no clue what she stumbled into when she met the Mikaelsons. And then she spent 500 years on the run from a vindictive Original vampire. She’s devious and she’s manipulative, but maybe as a consequence of the horrible circumstances she found herself in in the 1400s.

And then her finding the Salvatores and falling in love with both of them (and before everyone comes in here talking about how she loved Stefan, she did also love Damon very much and that’s why she fed them both her blood - she wanted them both and didn’t want to have to choose) felt like a moment in Katherine’s history when she truly could have been happy. But that quickly imploded when Papa Salvatore killed his sons and discovered that they had been turned. Then she was on the run again.

Katherine returned and turned Elena’s life even more upside down than it already was after she met Stefan, but come on, can you really blame her? She had a ready-made doppelganger to offer up to appease Klaus, and it just so happened that Elena was standing between her and Stefan. Plus it probably didn’t hurt that her threats to Elena maintained her manipulation of John and Isobel (sort of - arguably, Isobel didn’t care all that much about Elena) to do her bidding. Katherine wanted what Elena had: people willing to sacrifice themselves for her, and true unconditional love.

So when Katherine ended up in Hell, and while I am very amused that Katherine Pierce became the queen of Hell, because of course she did, I completely understood why she’d want to burn Mystic Falls down. What on Earth did Mystic Falls ever do for her? It’s a living memory of some of her greatest regrets, filled with people who she betrayed and who betrayed her. It’s a place she was persecuted, it’s a place she found love and lost it, it’s a place where her long-lost daughter died in her arms, and it’s a place her humanity truly died. If I were Katherine, I would have burned Mystic Falls down years ago.

If there’s one thing we could learn about life through “The Vampire Diaries”, it’s that everyone has demons. Some people have more and darker demons than others, and we’re all deeply flawed. But we all have humanity, too, even if there’s only a shred or it’s really hard to find. Katherine Pierce was no different. I’ll pour one out for her.

[kingmalachaiparker]

Dan + Blair should have been the endgame of “Gossip Girl”.

I’m almost hoping I’m going to get people in my inbox screaming about “CHUCK AND BLAIR” or “DAN AND SERENA” or the ultimate underappreciated ship “NATE AND A THERAPIST WHO COULD HELP HIM WORK OUT HIS MOMMY AND DADDY ISSUES” because I love a good argument... but I digress. Let me tell you why Dan and Blair should have been endgame, an opinion I still cling to 4 years after the series ended.

The reason is simple: Dan and Blair are intellectual and romantic equals. Every other iteration of a romantic relationship on the show had one overwhelmingly convincing reason for working, I won’t deny that. But Dan and Blair had the benefit of working for many reasons.

Let’s begin with Dan. As much as Dan pretended that he was an “outsider” and that he didn’t want to be one of the Upper East Side elite, his novel “Inside” and Vanessa’s interpretation of it (which you could argue is or isn’t authentic, depending on how you feel about the Vanessa/Dan friendship) proves that Dan wanted to be part of the upper echelon all along. The eventual reveal that he is Gossip Girl solidified that idea: after all, why blog extensively and compulsively follow the personal, political, and professional details of the lives of Manhattan’s elite if you didn’t to some degree want to be just like them? Dating Serena was only the beginning; she intrigued him because she was mysterious, she was the unattainable It Girl who swooped in and transformed his life overnight only to disappear just as quickly. But aside from that allure, what else was there between Dan and Serena? I always found it hard to stomach, especially as the endgame, because Dan seemed infinitely superior to Serena in every way and she toyed relentlessly with his emotions as the series progressed. He was always her fallback option when some thrilling new boy who was either gorgeous or damaged or off-limits broke her heart. But where was the girl who appreciated his intellect, his curiosity, the darker side hidden beneath the earnest facade? Serena only ever talked about and saw Dan as this perfectly unblemished boy from Brooklyn. It shows how superficial their relationship always was.

Now, you could argue that the person who understood him the best was Vanessa, but I would argue that understanding him was not the same as being his equal. She may have begun as his equal, but as the series transformed Dan into a complex character who wasn’t the flawless moral hero we all thought he was, Vanessa was similarly transformed. But whereas Dan had redemptive possibilities, Vanessa never returned from her trip down Morally Compromised Lane. She schemed just as much as Blair did, except Vanessa’s scheming led to Serena’s abduction and drug overdose. She betrayed people just as much as Jenny did, except Jenny owned up to her betrayals. She pretended that she was so much better than everyone else only to end up faceplanting into her own hypocrisy.

And then there was Blair. She relished her elite status, she loved being entrenched in the scheming and the backstabbing and the particular niceties of the upper echelon. But ultimately, as much as she is a Mean Girl, especially at Constance, she has a heart that she offers to only a few people and that she is petrified will break. She loves so deeply, as evidenced by her relationship with Serena - though she has a tendency to overreact and plot against Serena, fundamentally, she needs Serena more than Serena needs her and that’s what drives her lashing out. The minute she felt replaced or pushed out of Serena’s life, she would panic and plot. She cares so deeply, as evidenced by her relationship with Chuck - despite what a dark path he led her onto, despite all of the ways in which he pushed her away and manipulated her to be his pawn, she still tried to save him at every turn because she believed he deserved a chance at redemption. But the truth is, even at Chuck’s best, he could never match Blair’s worst. 

So Dan and Blair made sense. Bonding over a common love of scheming (but with good intentions) and obscure French films and niche art exhibits may have brought Dan and Blair together, but it was fated. The Dan and Blair of the latter half of the series were a perfect fit: I could have seen them hatching schemes to get Serena, Nate, and Chuck out of hot water (for the millionth time) and coming home to a Netflix queue filled with orangutan documentaries. 

But instead, we ended up with the darkest timeline (Blair and Chuck) and the one where Dan gets severely shafted (Dan and Serena). With all the reboots going on, ya think we could get a reboot of that finale?

[hollybudd]

Jerry “The King” Lawler

[michellelovatosbookreviews]

This woman regrets the day she met her husband - and his murder

https://michellelovatosbookreviews.wordpress.com/2020/11/12/ex-wife-regrets-the-day-she-met-paul-west-and-his-murder/

[michellelovatosbookreviews]

Flower writes another beauty with new cozy mystery series

Author Amanda Flowers' new book Dead End Detective, is the start of something beautiful … again.

Dead-End Detective: A Piper and Porter Mystery from Hallmark Publishing is the first in her new series featuring Darby Porter, a young, sparky, single detective who co-owns Two Girls Detective Agency with her close friend, Samantha Porter.

And Darby is happily enjoying a wonderful life and career until her business partner announces she is dissolving their company.

Less than 24-hours later, Darby's partner is dead, and she is the most likely suspect for Samantha's murder.

Though Darby is devastated by her life's tragic turn and uncertain future, it is Samantha who proves she's always known what is best for Darby's future.

Motivation, opportunity, and method could not be more fun.

Amanda Flowers' cozies are among my favorite series' in the 150-plus cozy mystery books I've consumed in the past two years. Her story-telling is easy, amusing, and always keeps me guessing. I like her perky characters and am always hungry for more at the end of her reads.

It was my special pleasure to listen to this book on audio, which was narrated by Laura Faye Smith and produced by Dreamscape Media.

Smith's portrayal of Darby and her co-cast members was right on target. I was focused on Flowers' storytelling and not Smiths' voice the entire time, which in my opinion is exactly what a narrator should do; disappear into the story and allow the author to work her magic.

Flower and several other authors in her genre continue to further solidify why cozy mysteries are so much fun, and why, in three years, I will write my own cozy mystery series on the market. What writer can read this genre and not want to jump into this pool?

I give Dead End Detective a 5 on my Color Commentary scale.

I cannot wait to get my hands on Flowers' next title.

Dead End Detective: A Piper Porter Mystery hit the shelves Aug. 25, 2020. Her next title, Candy Cane Crime: An Amish Candy Shop Mystery will be released Oct. 27.

For more information about Flowers' books, visit her website at www.amandaflowers.com. You will not be disappointed. See my reviews at michellelovatosbookreviews.wordpress.com.

[email protected]     [email protected]

Happy are those who respect the Lord and obey him. You will enjoy what you work for, and you will be blessed with good things. Psalm 128: 1-2

[colorcommentary3-blog]

Practicing our skit for our review of "The Boys."

[colorcommentary3-blog]

"We Never Learn Our Lesson." Theories on the MCU's Future

"Subscribe To Survive!" - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUCAV0wz0qt9qGKr9msUBjg/ COLOR COMMENTARY is a group of movie, tv and comic book lovers that you c...

Despite nearly all of our Avengers: Endgame Theories being wrong, now we're trying to predict the future of the MCU.  We just never learn our lessons.